A deserving winner of the Nobel Peace Prize

The EU gained some well-needed recognition when The Nobel Committee announced that it was giving the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union.

Critics are already mocking the decision, but rarely based on any knowledge of the EU. Right now the EU is strugling with economic difficulties (obviously!), but one needs to look at the big picture - namely that there haven't been any wars or noteworthy conflicts between EU members since its inception, and that the EU has directly and indirectly spurred democratic movements in Portugal, Spain, and Greece (which were all - not too long ago - military dictatorships) and Eastern Europe. Besides, an economic crisis doesn't say anything about the EU's ability to create - and keep - peace in a troubled region over a period of sixty years.

Below, I have collected some responses to the decision.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/why-the-european-union-deserves-the-nobel-peace-prize/263560/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/10/12/five-reasons-why-the-e-u-deserved-the-nobel-peace-prize/

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/10/12/the-eus-nobel-peace-prize-not-just-a-laughing-matter/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/12/us-nobel-peace-eu-crisis-idUSBRE89B0YP20121012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/10/12/european-union-peace-prize-nobel-committee-jumps-the-shark/

http://world.time.com/2012/10/12/nobel-peace-prize-sows-discord-and-laughter/

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/12/the-eu-won-what-europe-reacts-to-nobel.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/12/european-union-nobel-peace-prize-joy-derision?newsfeed=true

Defending Europe

Despite all the talk about sluggish growth and high debt levels, there are still good reasons to appreciate Europe. Here's a good, short piece from Remi Adekoya from The Guardian: Europe is still the closest thing to Paradise on Earth.

The Danish presidency: A job well done

A while ago I wrote a post highlighting the possibility of a succesful Danish presidency of the E.U. So, as the Danes are handing over the wheel to the Cypriots, forgive me for gloating a little over my excellent foresight ;-)

While this presidency didn't draw huge headlines - until the last moment, at least - it certainly achieved important results, and at least one with long-term, positive consequences for Europe.

It seems that the Danes managed to solve a problem that has existed for roughly thirty years, namely that of a single European patent.

Boring stuff, many would agree. But in the long term it very well turn out to be a decisive factor in the E.U.'s ambitions to be one of the leaders in innovation.

As of today, one of the reasons that the U.S. has kept its lead for so long is that American entrepreneurs and businesses have only had to file for its patents in just one place to get protection on a market of more than 400 million people. This has meant low costs and little administration.

Europeans, on the other hand, have had to go through up to 27 government agencies to achieve the same protection, which has been enormously costly and complicated.

In other words, it now means that independent engineers, computer wizzes, business people, etc., will no longer have to borrow about 35,000 euros to make their ideas come to life. Not to mention the advantages of handling just one patent in stead of 27.

So, congratulations for solving a problem that for decades has stifled innovation and job creation in Europe.

Mrs. Schmidt goes to Washington

The Danish Prime Minister and current President of the EU talked to U.S. President Obama. Take a look:

The Danish Presidency - will it matter?

Denmark is currently holding the rotating presidency of the EU. It's one of the smaller countries in the Union, and it has opted out of the euro. Plus its prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a social democrat, is new at the helm of Danish politics (and now the EU). These facts might cause people to diminish the importance of this particular presidency.

But maybe all of the above works to Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt's advantage. After all (bearing in mind Denmark's surprising win in the 1992 European Championships in football), Denmark is a country that thrives at being an underdog. So maybe a political upset is in the making, too.

Thorning-Schmidt is a skilled analyst (who holds an M.Sc. in political science and an M.A. in European studies from the College of Europe) who's is quite underrated despite her impressive resumé and ability to ride off a storm (she was falsely accused of tax fraud and met by a crowd of agressive journalists in the Copenhagen Airport without as much as a blemish or a stutter).

Nobody really expects much of this presidency (or any other due to the fact that the union now also has a permanent president in Herman von Rompuy). But maybe the Danes' ability to prepare professionally and punch above its weight might result in competent stewardship.